In normal times, I would have jumped at an opportunity to celebrate Wigwe, who is certainly one of the biggest revelations in Nigeria’s banking industry in this century. When he took over the leadership of Access Bank, the Bank was no. 5. Today, that bank is No. 1 in terms of share capital, loans, deposits, reach and customer satisfaction.
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As soon as he was done with that, he turned towards me and bellowed: “Abati, you are calling us yesterday’s men eh? Very soon, you too will be a yesterday man. When we become today’s people, we will show you what it means to be a yesterday man!”
No Nigerian politician understands this secret of success than the boy from Jada, who has grown to be the man for Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar. God Almighty gives perseverance to very few of his chosen servants. I daresay that Atiku is one of those few chosen and lucky servants of God. He has grasped this special gift and uses it in his political struggles to his advantage.
I suddenly became a bit feverish so I was compelled to turn off the air conditioner. At this point I knew I had to call the doctor, who arrived promptly and took my vitals and blood sample to run a few tests, he advised I take panadol, eat well and have a good rest. Alas that was the end of my day…. No walk for me.
Perhaps, disturbed by the manner in which Nigerians received that news with the possible backlash of an immediate loss of patronage, the management hurriedly embarked on a PR redo in what they expected to be a better packaging of the information.
But how possible is this if we continue to seize every opportunity to tear ourselves apart. It is said 10 united people will defeat 10 million people that are not united. It is possible because the 10 that unite are going to use those not united against themselves. It is therefore time for the Yoruba to think and not a time for bickering and dirty politics.
Today, by benefit of hindsight, it could be appropriately said that Emefiele was a prophet who saw tomorrow and quickly rallied his people to prepare for the impending storm. Not long afterwards, the real storm came bearing down on global economies.
But I admire you, Baba, because you don’t sit on the fence; you pull fences down along with bridges and sit over their rubble, dust and all
So many people are today ‘wounded’ by the present economic and health crises. They have lost much if not all. Some do not even know where to start from again. They have lost their capital, lost their jobs, their loved ones and even their hope. But listen, you will recover.
Yearly, Nigerians in their thousands still gamble on looking for a better life in Europe. Husbands leave behind long-suffering wives in search of greener pastures. Wives abandon jobless husbands to escape to London in search of the almighty pound sterling. Sometimes, and this may sound cruel, very young children are carted off to grandparents, while their fathers and mothers make a choice between survival and starvation.
I write on the strength of knowledge many do not have on this issue. I do not blame Baba Ijebu one bit for recording the conversation. Buruji was a slippery person, one whose words could not be his bond, as we all know from the hundreds of cases of examples over business and politics.
Without the basic understanding of the mind or life itself, all sermons and homilies delivered by any Preacher or Priest will appeal only as long as we are within the confines of the four walls at which they were delivered. As soon as we depart such assembly, the very first gusty winds will blow whatever had been heard or learnt away and we will once again be back to our worldly ways.
Those who knew or know next to nothing about UNILAG and its towering heights now constitute “judges” in the misconceived “courts” of public opinion. This, sadly, is most unfortunate.
The above words were used by President Donald Trump to eulogise his brother Robert who just passed on in a New York hospital. He called Robert his brother and his best friend. He said that he will greatly miss him, though he believes they will meet again. At another time Donald said that Robert was a quieter and the easygoing one than himself and the only guy he ever called honey. Wow! The president visited him in the hospital the day before he died. Robert who passed on at the age of 71 was the last of the Trump siblings.
In deference to individual idiosyncrasies and perspectives, I am not in the position to cast a stone on the rightfulness or otherwise of El-Rufai’s attendance at the 60th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association.
Of course, that comment generated responses, both positive and negative. But the one that caught my fancy specially was by Ayekooto, who declared: “We have got to a stage when GMB achievements can no longer be denied but hated. I hate trains. I hate bridges. I hate rice.”
His thoughts, ideals, views on journalism and in life motivated many of us who came close to him and will continue to inspire us. Here are my remarks as the tributes flow in praise of a good man that he was.
Lawyers have become the new voters and courts the new electoral umpires; yet neither the lawyers nor the courts can say exactly where all this would lead or swear that they are in control of the outcome.
In my last alocution, I expounded more perfectly to you, the things that pertain to the eschatological dimensions of the divine protocol and I took time, in a conversational approach that I maintained throughout the discussion, to explain what it is that is going on, with regard to the COVID – 19 pandemic and I laboured to bring the mind of God to you, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Looking at the success rate of the State in addressing the pandemic, there is no doubt that Governor Sanwo-Olu has become a shining light and a beacon of hope by providing exceptional leadership in public office in the management of COVID-19 pandemic, not only in Lagos but throughout Nigeria.